Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Clippers 3/18/22 NBA Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz duke it out at the Vivint Arena on Friday night.

The Los Angeles Clippers have been in rough shape as they’ve lost five of their last seven games overall and they will be hoping to stop a two-game skid after coming up short against the Raptors in a 103-100 loss on Wednesday. Reggie Jackson led the team with 23 points and nine assists, Marcus Morris added 22 points with seven assists while Terance Mann chipped in with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists off the bench. As a team, the Clippers shot 48 percent from the field and 11 of 30 from the 3-point line as they fought hard to cut an early 16-point deficit to just one point with 35 seconds remaining, only to come up just short as the Clippers’ Morris missed the potential game-tying shot with time expiring.

Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz have been in decent shape as they’ve won seven of their last 11 games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after blowing past the Bulls in a 125-110 home win on Wednesday. Donovan Mitchell led the team with 37 points and five assists, Jordan Clarkson added 26 points off the bench while Rudy Gobert tallied 14 points with 20 rebounds and four blocks. As a team, the Jazz shot 50 percent from the field and 12 of 34 from the 3-point line as they held the Bulls to just 22 points in the second quarter to take the early lead, before exploding for 71 points in the second half where Clarkson and Mitchell finished with a flurry.

Looking at the betting trends, the Clippers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games as an underdog and 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games overall. The Jazz are 8-22-1 ATS in their last 31 games against a team with a winning record, 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 home games and 2-6-1 ATS in their last nine games overall.

Head to head, the over is 5-1 in the last six meetings overall, the Clippers are 9-23-1 ATS in the last 33 meetings in Utah and the Clippers are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings overall.

The Clippers haven’t been able to get anything going lately and they’re going to be shorthanded again with a list of players still out including Paul George, Jason Preston and Norman Powell, while the Jazz are still without Danuel House Jr. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Donovan Mitchell. The Clippers the clear underdogs in this spot as they haven’t been able to build any momentum lately, but they’re still too good to be struggling for this long and I think this is a good time to catch the Jazz while they’re shorthanded as well. I like the Jazz to get the win at home, but I think the Clippers hang around till the end in this one.